Wanting to stick to my “Best of 2009″ theme I thought it was time to share  another one of my ‘first time ever’ moments…picking olives. I had thought  about doing this in 2008 but allowed my fears to deter me. Fears like “what if  I feel sick” or, “what if I can’t keep up” or, “what if I have to pee”. Silly, I know,  but silly or not these thoughts caused me major anxiety, and that anxiety  held me prisoner.

I don’t know how, but in 2009 I had a new sense of self and decided to go for  it. I guess the Cattle Drive helped with working through anxiety. Being in the  middle of nowhere leaves you no choice but to suck it up and deal  with things  as they come. So with this ‘balls to the wall’ attitude I agreed to      help my  friends.

The days began way earlier then what I’m used to but of course I found the silver lining in that. You see, eating is a big part of this olive picking tradition, so of course there was an early morning snack prepared for us worker bees. What was it you ask…a panino made with hot Italian sausage (homemade of course), roasted sweet peppers, and the sharpest Italian cheese you can find!

After eating like that it’s a little difficult to just pick up and get back into the groove, but I did, after all I had to keep up with  the pros. Nets were being laid out, olives were being picked, nets were being moved, more olives were being picked, nets filled  with olives were emptied into sacks, and the process just continued.

The days were long and the work was hard. Thank goodness the Italians can’t do anything without food being involved or I  would have never made it past day one. Lunch was always a feast that lasted at least an hour and a half. We would set up our  makeshift table with meats, cheeses, peppers, tomatoes, and fried baccala. Bread, wine, and espresso accompanied these f  feasts, and enjoying all of this out in the fresh country air makes it all taste so much better.

At the end of every day, after packing up, we would drive the olives to the … There we would unload the olives to have them weighed and ultimately be processed at the local “frantoio”. This is where the magic happens!

Step 1: Grinding the olives

Take a closer look...but don't fall in!

Step 2: Layering the press disks with olive paste

Step 3: Olive press

Can you imagine how many olives it took to produce those few drops?

Step 4: Start filling your bottles

All in all this was another memorable experience of my ‘life Italian’. Despite the long days and the hard work there was a silver lining. The weather was perfect, the company was great, the food was delicious, and the work was satisfying. I’m definitely chalking this up to another amazing experience in the Bel Paese. What more could a girl ask for?

There are many things that I am good at, if I do say so myself, but one of the things I am *best* at is eating.  I love to eat.  I love food.  I love all kinds of food.  I especially love food that I don’t have to cook myself.  Everyone who knows me well knows this to be true.  I don’t cook.  It’s not that I can’t cook, at least I don’t think so, it’s just that I don’t like to cook.  Let’s face it, I am one person…eternally single…what’s the point of cooking for one.  It’s not like cooking for one is easier or takes less time, hell, you still have the same about of pots and pans to clean at the end of it all.  Now if I didn’t have to be responsible for everything that goes into cooking a meal, ie. shopping, prepping, cooking, tasting, eating, cleaning…maybe then I would find it more enticing.

In America it was very easy to get by without cooking.  I went out to lunch and dinner every day.  Sure it was expensive, but it was also easy…and I’m all about easy.  Now here in Italy it’s quite a bit different.  Here, if I want to eat out it isn’t just a quick trip down the block to a diner or Chinese take-out.  Here I eat mostly at my parents or the local pizzeria.  Life here is like that for everyone…it’s normal.  So I thought “what’s a girl to do” and in pondering that I came up with this great idea.  I decided that since I have a nice house outside of the village I would put out the idea of having a dinner at my house.  Of course, after three years of being in the village everyone already here knows as well that I don’t cook.  But being the great friends that they are they agreed that we would all take part in the planning, shopping, preparing, cooking, tasting, and eating this great meal.

As with all Italian meals pasta was involved, so ours started looked a little like this…Making the pasta, in this case, Cavatelli.

And just to prove that I’m not totally useless in the kitchen I have this shot of me helping out my friends.  Check out that style!

Those Cavatelli were going to be a small part of our meal…did I mention that this meal was all based in seafood?  Well it was.

So at the end of this community effort we were all ready to dig in to the fruit’s of our labor.  The menu included a starter of Insalata di Polpo, a first course of Cavatelli alla Pescatrice, a second of Fried Baccala, followed by my very own, home grown figs.

Following such a wonderful meal with friends I couldn’t help but feel anything but blessed.  Here I am, an American girl who never ever learned to enjoy food the way the Italians do.  I found myself here, in the village, surrounded by wonderful people who have accepted me (and my ways) and instead of judging me they take me in and teach me.  I am a very lucky girl indeed.

It was something I’d always wanted to do so 2009 was my year to make it happen.  What is it you ask?  A cattle drive…Italian style!  That’s right, 5 days, 4 nights, 3 regions.  We started in Apricena, Puglia with 125 cows, 55 horses, and more cowboys than I could count.  With the mission clearly laid out before us the driving began.  First stop, San Paolo Civitate, Puglia.   Although there were only 18.5 km between the two cities the driving took over 5 hours.  Who knew cows could be so difficult?

That first day was tough but well worth it.  I never imagined the amount of work that went into moving cattle.  There are the drivers on horseback and those who go by foot.  Then there are the people whose jobs are to breakdown and clean the departure campsite only to transport everything to next campsite and have it ready for when the drive ends for the day.  Finally, there are a whole other group that are responsible to drive back and forth between the two sites in order to bring all of the horse trailers and other vehicles.  Then it’s time to kick back, enjoy some wine, and wait eagerly for some chow.

By the time 3 pm rolls around bellies are full and you begin to see a lot of this…even the cows are exhausted.

Since this was a first time for a lot of us we wanted to celebrate our accomplishments…until 2:30 am!  Trust me, after that night our energy stores were bankrupt and it was just hard work for the rest of the drive.

Day 2 and every day thereafter began with a 4 am wake-up call.  This consisted of a cowboy on horseback with a cow bell yelling “SVEGLIA!  SVEGLIA!”  I have to admit that first morning was terrible considering I had only 2 hours of sleep, but on the other hand it was the most incredible sight to see, old fashioned cattle driving, Italian style!

The drive continued like this from day to day.  Our stop on Day 2 was Ururi, Puglia, Day 3 was Palata, Molise, Day 4 was Montefalcone Nel Sannio, Molise, and Day 5 was Castiglione Messer Marino, Abruzzo.  Finally, after 123.4 km, the cows were safely at their summer residence and the horses were off to their respective homes.  It was an experience that I will never forget and a tradition I hope to participate in again this year.  It’s been almost a year since this drive and I still can’t stop thinking about those 5 days.  The amount of strength, courage, and commitment of all those involved is awe inspiring.

My cowgirl hat is off to you all!

Where some of the best moments of 2009 took place.

So to answer the question I left you all with at the end of my last post, the dog that I photographed was one of the first photos I took as we arrived in Gallipoli for a one week vacation.  It was me and 5 friends who set off to experience an area of Puglia known as Salento.  We decided to rent a big 4 bedroom house near the sea in Gallipoli because of it’s location.   From there we set off all day, everyday, to find some fabulous new seaside town with incredible views  like these.

Santa Maria de Leuca

Ostuni, "The White City"

The food was amazing and always with a base of fresh seafood.

Need I say anything?

YUMMY!!!

And the beaches were breathtaking…take a look for yourself.

Baia Verde

The Maldives of Italia

This was an incredible 7 days but it could have never been one of the the Best of 2009 if I hadn’t had the opportunity to share it with the best friends an American girl in Italy could have hoped for….Here we are…………..

La Squadra

That's All Folks!!!!!!!!!!!

I was determined to get to my house today.  I just needed to be in my space for some me time.  I knew that my car would never had made it, so I asked my dad to take me.  He has a 4×4 Fiat Panda, they are not the most attractive looking cars, but they kick ass in these weather conditions.  Just take a look at the roads.  Not many people are braving the conditions…we were the only two fools in sight.

Once we arrived I couldn’t believe the snow that had settled all around my little piece of paradise.  Here’s a shot of the driveway leading to the main road.  Believe it or not, I had just had the snow plow here earlier this morning…a lot of good that did!  I’ll be sure to track him down and beg him for another visit.

I haven’t been able to stay here since Wednesday night because my car just doesn’t *do* the snow.

The lions have been stripped of their dignity and are now in desperate need of a visit to the Wizard of Oz.

So while I wait for the snow to end, and then melt away, I’m trapped…and not dealing with it very well.

One of the things I really enjoy about life in Italy is that I never really know what I’ll be doing from one moment to the next.  Now some who know me might say I’m a planner and an organizer, and to a degree this is true.  But those who know me really well will tell you that as much as I love the planning and the organizing, I get way too anxious when having to think things out in advance.  What can I say…I’m just a complicated girl.

Anyway, although I have been back in Italy for a week, I haven’t been able to get back into the groove of life in the village.  My friends here have been giving me flack for not going out, or saying I’ll meet up with them and then just not showing.  Well last night was going to be no different…or so I thought.  You see, I was visiting a friend until about 10 pm.  I decided afterwords that I would stop by my parents house for a minute and then just head home.  At about 10:30, as I was driving past the pub (yes, we actually have a pub), a friend of mine jumped out into the street and screamed ”GIOVANNA” !  Well I certainly couldn’t act as if I didn’t see her, although the thought did cross my mind, so I stopped to say hello to her and a few other friends who had come outside.  They invited me in for a drink and, not wanting to be rude, I parked the car and joined them.

After about an hour or so my friend Giovanni decided that it would be the perfect time (midnight) to taste the sausage he had made this season.  Why not?  It was officially a new day.  So off we went, six in all, to taste the sausage.  After making way to the top of the city, through narrow streets and creepy stairways, we walked up to the door.  As Giovanni was opening the door all I could think was, well, nothing really…I just wasn’t in the moment.  Not to worry though…things were about to change because once the door opened  I walked into what I like to refer to as a little piece of heaven and a whole lot of hog.

Now it may look strange to those of you non-Italians, and maybe some of you Italians, but this is real Italy.  Of course it didn’t end there because tasting sausage is an art.  There was fresh Italian bread which we dipped in freshly made olive oil.  To top the bread off were the winter tomatoes that we lovingly squeezed on top of the bread, with a sprinkling of salt.  Now I’m sorry to tell you that the battery on the camera died but I did capture these two additional photos.

Gianpaolo checking out the goods.

Luigi helping Luiga out with a taste testing.

Oh…did I forget to mention the pasta with sausage?  My bad.

It was a great time, and I’m glad I decided against running over my friend to avoid socialization.  Well my drive home did finally concluded at 3:45 am and I concluded that I’m much better at just going with the flow…besides, I don’t handle anxiety very well.

That make it all worthwhile.

It sure does feel good to say those words.  Who would have thought that after moving away from all I’ve known for so long would have actually been the right decision?  I certianly didn’t imagine that I would have lasted this long.  Fortunately, I am still living here in Italy after 18 months, and I am loving every minute of it.  I think that fact that I have been able to make two trips back to the USA since first moving has made the transition easier.  My first trip back to Florida was in April and it was a really great visit.  This trip was great as well, in a bittersweet kind of way.  On this trip I realized that Italy is my home…not only legally and physically, but most importantly in my heart.

So this is my home…Montefalcone Nel Sannio, Molise, Italia.